Worship As Confession

Please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.

1 Samuel 15:25

It is said that when former President John Kennedy and then Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev were meeting together, their opinions were strong and the exchange heated. In exasperation, Kennedy asked the Soviet leader, “Do you ever admit a mistake?” The premier responded, “Certainly I do. In a speech before the Twentieth Party Congress, I admitted all of Stalin’s mistakes.”

That could be categorized as confession of the Soviet sort, but not biblical confession. The Greek word translated “confession” (homologeo: homo = same, logeo = say) means “to say the same thing as.” Therefore, when we confess to God, we agree with what He says about sin. And in personal confession, we say what He says about our sins. Jesus was clear to the Pharisees of His day that coming to worship God without confessing our sins (that is, having a heart far from God) is a futile exercise. Our worship of God must start where David’s did: “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4). The next time you purpose to worship God, begin with confession of your sin.

Not to agree with God is an exercise in deception—of ourselves, not God.

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.

ST. AUGUSTINE